


stardust on her pillow case

by vindice



Series: the galaxy in your eyes [1]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hyper Intuition, Introspection, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-24 11:24:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15629715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vindice/pseuds/vindice
Summary: Tsuna notices things.





	stardust on her pillow case

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Night-Mare (Aoife)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aoife/gifts).



> [✿](https://youtu.be/kMAzstG5O7E)
> 
>  
> 
> This was inspired by the [latest](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15625833) of Aoife’s one-shots. I just want to say, thanks for that awesome piece.(´꒳`✿) The R27 is ambiguous enough you could easily pass it as platonic, if you wish.
> 
> If there’s any errors, I’ll fix them later. Now I have to focus on other things because I’m posting this from work. Enjoy!

The day after Dino arrives, Tsuna feels the atmosphere change.  
  
It starts with little things, nothing he’d have noticed had he not been paying attention beforehand. A difficult feature given how his awareness flows from hyper focused to dissociative on a good day, but for the same reason is that he can notice this: Dino asks the table in general to please pass the salt, and Kaasan is there in an instant.  
  
Tsuna had looked up from his half-eaten plate to do so himself before mom beat him to it, well aware of Reborn’s intentions of stealing his food at the first distraction but still willing to give up his breakfast to his tutor, so it was easy for him to see it.  
  
His mother has always been nurturing, if a somewhat distracted person. Food has always been an important subject in their household, so it’s not really out of place for her to be attentive to their guests, too. It’s been proved thus far with Reborn and his own suddenly active social life when it comes to that aspect, after all. No, what really catches his attention is the way Kaasan’s hand is resting on Dino’s shoulder and the expression on his face as she smiles at him, her eyes squinted in a sweet way.  
  
Tsuna can’t remember the exact word it reminds him to, but awestruck is close to it. A little as if Reborn had just whacked him over the head with Leon-mallet, but softer, more inclined to… worship.  
  
It’s barely a moment, but Kaasan’s thumb twitches on the edge of his collar, lingers close to his clavicle. He watches Dino swallow, and his mother’s eyes catch on the movement of his throat.

Tsuna hums to himself but lets it be for the time being because Reborn kicks him out of his chair, and he shrieks just mildly surprised. He frowns, makes half-hearted protests as he looks down at his now empty plate when he gets up, but it’s all for show, only so he won’t worry his mother for not having finished his breakfast. He’s been doing that lately.  
  
After that, the morning keeps going almost as usual, with the exception of his mom deciding to go to the market to restock the kitchen just as he’s about to leave. It’s better going now, she says, the forecast announced rain for the weekend. Saturday is the usual time they buy whatever might be missing at home. Dino immediately offers to accompany her, make himself useful and help her with the groceries since he’s intruding in their house. He wants to explore the town so it’s not like he’s going out of his way, he refutes when mom protests, but his eyes are having trouble focusing on anything that isn’t Kaasan’s face.  
  
Something moves in his peripheral making him look down, and Tsuna catches Dino flexing his fingers. It’s almost unconscious, but they’re glowing a soft shade of orange and Tsuna narrows his eyes suspiciously.  
  
Something at the back of his mind thrums pleasantly, like a giggle, and Tsuna breathes in slowly. It’s a trail, it supplies, like it’s building up for something. Or maybe _from_ , though he’s not sure what exactly. It’s a little confusing, so he doesn’t linger on that part.  
  
  
  
Tsuna goes to school after saying goodbye to his mom and leveling Dino with a weird glance that he’s sure makes his elder uncomfortable, but the only reason he doesn’t squirm is because Reborn is currently in between Tsuna’s arms. Suits him right, for making Tsuna feel like a damn detective chasing after a mystery.  
  
Gokudera and Yamamoto find him along the way, sweeping him into their bickering, but Tsuna can’t bring himself to stop them. Reborn for once is silent, now settled on his head with a firm grip on his hair that borders just this side of painful but that he’s come to associate with his tutor’s way of grounding him when he drifts away.  
  
Not for the first time, he takes a moment to thank him mentally, doing his best to ignore the warm feeling flourishing from his chest and washing over him.  
  
His thoughts go back to the look on Dino’s eyes when they were about to leave, the surprise in his mother’s face and how she smiled regardless. The way her eyes softened as if accepting something.  
  
He goes through his classes feeling like he’s in a bubble, everything around him muffled. The image doesn’t leave his mind.  
  
  
  
They come home that day a little later than usual because they make a stop at TakeSushi to visit Yamamoto-san. Yamamoto had insisted Tsuna ate something since he didn’t at lunch, it’s on him, and Reborn would like to know where Yamamoto lives in any case. Tsuna politely doesn’t point out that he already knows Reborn follows his friends after school sometimes.  
  
He’s about to greet his mom but Reborn tugs at his pants, hand making a sign for him to stay quiet. Tsuna immediately straightens, worry creeping up his belly. Something must be showing on his face because Reborn shakes his head and points towards the living room.  
  
So, it turns out, the trail was leading to something that should have been very obvious to him given how much shoujo Kyouko-chan has lended him over the years they’ve known each other. But somehow he hadn’t made the connection up until now, when Dino has a hand against the wall and the other on his mother’s side while she’s tugging at his tie, kissing him.  
  
Tsuna jumps, a palm coming to his mouth to suppress a surprised noise. He manages to slip the way he came without making any noise and only shrieks when Reborn lands on his shoulder once they are a few houses away.  
  
They go back to TakeSushi and Yamamoto is delighted to see them again so soon, if a little confused. Tsuna smiles sheepishly, but Reborn suggests a sleepover and to call Gokudera, because strengthening their bonds is the duty of a mafia boss and tomorrow is Saturday anyway. Yamamoto-san doesn’t even seem to think it, agreeing readily. His grin is a little crooked but that something in the back of his mind tells Tsuna it’s genuine, relieved. It makes him smile softly, warm and content, because it’s clear Yamamoto-san adores his son.  
  
Reborn takes care of notifying mom, calls home fifteen minutes later to give them time. Tsuna really doesn’t want to think about what his mother and Dino are up to. He also doesn’t want to think about how today is Dino’s last night in Namimori.  
  
Tsuna has a good time, lets himself be washed by the soothing presence of a few of his precious people and drifts at the back of the conversation. If any of them notices his being more quiet than usual, they don’t say anything. Reborn just looks at him with a thoughtful expression.  
  
  
  
The next morning, Reborn shakes him awake and tells him to get ready. Tsuna wakes none of his friends because he knows that at least Gokudera has been having trouble to sleep for a few days now, and today is their day off so he lets them rest. He finds Reborn drinking coffee on the counter while Yamamoto-san sharpens the knives, sushi already waiting to be made. They say their goodbyes and Yamamoto’s dad tells them to stop by whenever they want. Tsuna smiles shyly.  
  
They arrive in time to have breakfast with Dino again. Then they clean, tidy up the kitchen, and pretend Dino isn't basically pleading both Reborn and Tsuna with his eyes when he offers to help Kaasan dry the dishes she’s washing. Well, Tsuna pretends. Reborn calls him _Baka-Dino_ and whacks him over the head.

 

They see Dino off at his portal, and Tsuna hugs him in a spur of the moment. Dino seems surprised for a second, which is understandable given how any physical contact they’ve had so far has always been initiated by him and not Tsuna, but it passes quickly. Dino beams at him, coos at how he’s so lucky to have a little brother like him and tells him to take care of himself.  
  
Tsuna doesn’t blink at the brother part. He might be young, and sometimes things are hard to understand, but he knows you can love more than one person with the same intensity and still be differently even if it’s complicated.  
  
  
  
After he leaves Tsuna has resigned himself to things going back to normal, everyone returning to the places they were supposed to be playing from the very beginning instead of what came out. He expects his mom to go back to the way she used to be after his dad left—a little distant, a little absent even if she was physically in front of him. It’s a bittersweet thought on the tip of his tongue, but he knows they’ll manage. They always do.  
  
But.  
  
Dino calls to the Sawada household when midnight comes and surprises him yet again. The noise arouses all of them, even Tsuna who’s sleep is the most complicated amongst the three. His mom is already on the living room by the time he reaches it, just as sleepy as him.  
  
The only thing illuminating the room is the full moon shining through the curtains and the small night light bulb on the far corner he is sure wasn’t there the prior day. They have one in the bathroom he turns on before going to bed, so he doesn’t have to squint and strain his eyes with the main light when he gets up in the middle of the night. He and mom had been planning on buying some for the rest of the house as soon as they could for the same reason, but there hadn’t been any chance to.  
  
Tsuna dares a glance to the lump in his arms, but Reborn continues to pointedly look forward not saying anything. He looks up again with a soft tilt at the corners of his mouth, silently touched by the action, his sensitive eyesight being protected.  
  
Kaasan picks up the phone and answers softly. Tsuna is close enough he can hear the faint noises from the phone, but the person at the other end of the line isn’t raising their voice for him to make sense of any of it. Still, he thinks he catches one of the words Reborn sometimes greets him with when they’re studying Italian, so Tsuna has a good idea of who it is, and he feels his eyes widening a little bit in realization.  
  
It's silly, perhaps, and he squirms under Reborn’s scrutiny the next morning, but Tsuna feels he’s entirely justified if he had assumed that night would be the end of whatever had happened between Dino and his mother.  
  
His mind hums soothingly, easing him. He’s glad he was mistaken.  
  
  
  
After that Dino calls Kaasan frequently, and they spend hours over the phone even though Dino’s supposed to be directing his own corner of the mafia empire. The calls make something he can’t quite make up stir inside of him, warm and marveled, because Kaasan tells him Dino always asks about how he’s been doing at school or with Reborn, what everyone has been up to, what are they eating today. Even if most of the talk is done between he and his mother, Tsuna doesn’t mind because just like that Dino keeps in contact with both of them, and that’s more than certain people in his life have offered to him, to them.  
  
In the rare occasions he’s left on his own, Tsuna can hear them talking over the phone when he comes back from school—or well, Kaasan’s side of the conversation. When that happens, he tries to scurry past the hall and up the stairs in quick, firm but semi-silent strides just to give them their privacy, even if most of his efforts end up on almost tripping up the stairs.  
  
Dino might be his senior, might have taken him under his wing as soon as Reborn introduced them. But Tsuna has been Tsuna all his life, and emotional attachment is not something that comes easily to him. That’s why when it does he loves with all his heart the people who have stayed by his side, even if sometimes he remembers some were thrusted into his life.

He’s rather fond of Dino, yes, and the sole fact that he’s making his mom happier than he’s seen her in a long time makes him love him even more.

And she is. Mom is happy, bright. But she smiles more now, dances around the house with Lambo and I-pin on her arms and spins Tsuna around the living room on his way up to his room, and sings while she cooks. She used to hum tunes, but now she sings whole excerpts from songs Tsuna sometimes recognizes from the radio or the local store, and sometimes from the linguistic exercises Reborn gives him.  
  
He’s glad Reborn came into his life, bringing Dino into hers.  
  
  
  
Years later he will be surrounded by his family, all the people he loves and cherishes, and he’ll look back and think, a few good things. A few good things came out of this entire mafia mess. But for now the glow on his mother’s face, the weight of Reborn on his shoulder? The laughter of the kids running around the house and his friends cluttering around the kitchen? That’s more than enough for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Since the story is more focused in Dino/Nana and Tsuna’s introspection I didn’t get much into it, but the whole issue with Tsuna and the food at the beginning isn’t really an issue, more like a side effect— _this is why you shouldn’t be an asshole and let your kids be sealed, nor a creep and cripple them._ So, Tsuna’s appetite is linked to his actual state; when he’s having a dissociative episode or feeling thoughtful, his mind isn’t in the right place for him to focus into eating, or just isn’t in the mood for it. Sometimes he simply can’t stomach full meals. On the other hand, when he’s _here, present_ , he’s a tiny bottomless pit for the first few days, before going back to what is considered standard for a teenager.
> 
> The first time Reborn witnessed this inconsistent cycle, his features betrayed him by twitching, a hint of bewilderment under the blank expression. (Tsuna won’t say it out loud, but he’s actually proud of having caught him off-guard for once and not the other way around, even if it’s about this.)


End file.
